Some computing devices (e.g., mobile phones, tablet computers, etc.) may provide a virtual or graphical keyboard as part of a graphical user interface for composing text (e.g., using a presence-sensitive input device and/or display, such as a touchscreen). The graphical keyboard may enable a user of the computing device to enter text (e.g., an e-mail, a text message, or a document, etc.). For instance, a presence-sensitive display of a computing device may output a graphical (or “soft”) keyboard that enables the user to enter data by indicating (e.g., by tapping) keys displayed at the presence-sensitive display.
In some cases, the computing device may present a continuous-gesture graphical keyboard (sometimes referred to as a “gesture keyboard” or “combo gesture keyboard”) with which a user can interact by sliding his or her finger over regions of the presence-sensitive display that are associated with keys of the graphical keyboard, thereby essentially gesturing a word to be input to the computing device. In other words, the user may input an entire word in a single gesture by tracing over the letters of the word output at a presence-sensitive display. In this way, continuous-gesture graphical keyboards provide an input method that allows the user to enter a word or group of words with a gesture. As such, a continuous-gesture graphical keyboard may allow the user to achieve a certain degree of efficiency, especially compared to one-handed tapping of a presence-sensitive screen (e.g., a presence-sensitive screen operatively coupled to or integrated with a computing device).
Some computing devices (e.g., mobile phones, tablet computers, etc.) may provide a graphical keyboard as part of a graphical user interface for composing text (e.g., using a presence-sensitive input device and/or display, such as a touchscreen). The graphical keyboard may enable a user of the computing device to enter text (e.g., an e-mail, a text message, or a document, etc.). For instance, a presence-sensitive display of a computing device may output a graphical (or “soft”) keyboard that enables the user to enter data by indicating (e.g., by tapping) keys displayed at the presence-sensitive display.
However, some continuous gesture graphical keyboards have certain drawbacks. For example, when using some continuous gesture graphical keyboards, a user may initially indicate, by gesture, one or more characters corresponding to a portion of a word, and then remove her finger before continuing with a subsequent gesture indicating one or more additional characters that complete the word. The one more characters selected by the subsequent gesture may, in some instances, be interpreted by a mobile device as a new word rather than as a second portion of the initial word that the user intended to input. Consequently, the user may thus need to correct the erroneously-registered word and/or the characters of the subsequent gesture in order to successfully input the intended word. As such, entering different portions of a word with multiple, separate gestures may not be possible with a typical continuous gesture keyboard, thereby reducing the speed at which a user may interact with a computing device.